- [Interviewee] They call themselves the Fundamental Fysics Group.

They spelled physics with an F. Some members would experiment with psychedelic drugs.

I mean, they were kind of in the flow of the kind of hippie scene, and that group was just mesmerized by the question of entanglement.

(guitar music) - The idea was just to discuss fringe subjects with an open mind, and I thought of, sure, that's kind of what I do.

They were doing their best to link eastern mysticism with quantum entanglement.

They sold a lot of popular textbooks.

There were a lot of followers.

- [Narrator] Their books became bestsellers like "The Tao of Physics", which highlighted that Eastern philosophy and quantum entanglement both described the deep connectedness of things in the universe.

- It was the great cosmic oneness.

- [Narrator] The group held meetings at the iconic Esalen Institute.

- It was a marvelous, beautiful place where they would discuss all of these ideas.

It was right on the Pacific Coast with the overflow from the hot tubs cascading down the cliff into the Pacific Ocean.

To my knowledge, no useful connections to eastern mysticism were ever discovered by the group, but it was fun.

- [Narrator] The Fundamental Fysics Group may not have uncovered the secrets of cosmic oneness, but in seeing entanglement as central to physics, they were decades ahead of their time.

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